summer

[obiwan]

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what kind of summer activities do you think would be the most beneficial for a first year who wants to do semi-competitive specialties (anesth. or emergency medicine) from a not very competitive school and wants to go out of state for residency at a pretty respectable programs and has done very well in school so far.

 

[SupergreenMnM]

Drink beer, visit the beach, bang your girlfriend, and above all RELAX! Don't even buy your textbooks until day 1.

🙂

 

[obiwan]

umm i meant summer before second year since i'm a MSI

 

[mules05]

umm i meant summer before second year since i'm a MSI

If you can find a research project that interests you, go with that. Or just relax on the beach. Or get a summer job. Don't do something just cause you think it will look good on your CV. Overall, though, DO NOT do anything that will leave you burned out at the start of second year. Trust me.

 

[Tristy]

I spent many hours wondering the same thing...So in the end I said "f$ck it" because it's basically our last freaking summer.

I'll be doing research for 1 month (only because I want to do it), and then I'll travel the rest of the summer while trying not to get killed while climbing ice walls and glaciars

 

[Bertelman]

I'd try to spend a few days with a PRIVATE doc in the specialties that interest you. Ask them about good v bad. See if you like what they do. Your experience during third-year clerkships is not at all representative of the professional life for most physicians.

Otherwise, yeah, I'd relax.

 

[Critical Mass]

I'd try to spend a few days with a PRIVATE doc in the specialties that interest you. Ask them about good v bad. See if you like what they do. Your experience during third-year clerkships is not at all representative of the professional life for most physicians.

Otherwise, yeah, I'd relax.

👍 Ditto on the clerkship vs. real life statement.

Have a significant other rub your tummy for you. Great for relaxation.

 

[donmedi]

Hi,

I'm looking into summer options as well. Basically, I've decided I don't want to do research, but would like to split my time roughly half and half between work and play. In terms of work, I'd like to something clinical, in an area of primary care, and I'd like to be paid for it. Any suggestion?

 

[naegleria brain]

donmedi -- so you'd like to be an MD even though you currently possess maybe 1/4th of it? easier said than done.

however, check out your school's summer programs. i do know that some of my friends who worked for certain depts got to take basic histories and do some scut for their doctors in a paid position. ie-act like a nurse (no offense intended to anyone), with some less, actual doing-stuff. they did some physicals too. it might be in line with what you are looking for.

another thing you guys might wanna check out. volunteer in the amazon. or caribbean. or in china or tibet. they have some awesome opportunities out there for medical students geared just for this summer. ask your school about it, or search for it yourself online.

if you don't mind the city your school is in, do clinical research. the hours are generally more flexible and you can relax during most of the day and go in and get work done whenever you want. by the end of the first month i was getting so bored i decided to scrub in on surgeries for the hell of it. pretty interesting stuff.

 

[SelflessAct]

If you're anything like me, I'd guess you want to relax but also do something productive this summer. Some of us are incapable of bumming around for more than 2 weeks at a time - it gets boring after a while. Do what I did and look into international health electives. Start here: www.cfhi.org, or as someone said earlier, ask your school about it or talk to one of the officers of your school's global health student organization (if you have one). Might as well travel and enjoy yourself while you're learning and volunteering your time or doing research or whatever.

I'm gonna echo what some others have already said - make sure you DO bum around somewhere, anywhere for at least a week. Get pissed drunk, sleep/play mattress olympics all ****ing day, eat whatever you want, live in excess for a short time. It's good for the soul. 😉

Keep in mind that you'll have plenty of opportunities to make yourself a better applicant for these semi-competitive specialties later on. Also, from what I've heard, research experience isn't valued all that highly for applying to an EM residency. I would guess it would be more important for something super-competitve like ortho/derm/rads. My impression of EM and Anesth. is that they tend to pick candidates who show that they're capable of leading a balanced lifestyle and know how/when to take it easy. So practice that! 🙂

 

[pjl]

My opinion (future anesthesiologist):
A few weeks following an anesthesia attending (hopefully private, and if possible one that goes to multiple hospitals) should give you enough of an idea of the lifestyle and job to see if you want to pursue it further. Just remember, if you arent doing anything except watching, you dont realize any of the thinking that goes on behind the curtain and it is more boring. If you dont like it, it will save you from scheduling that elective, especially during "prime time."

The ER would be nice for shadowing too, but if your vactioning schedule gets in the way (which I believe it should), it is probably less important. That is because it is probably a good elective to do around that end-of-third-year/ beginning-fourth-year time anyways because it is a good review of many specialties for boards.

I wouldnt worry as much about the research for anesthesia unless you didnt get a very good step 1, or have middle of the road grades. You can always do research during 3rd year evenings and postcall days, or take a research elective. The vacationing is important. I know nothing about what an ER interested person should do though.

 

[donmedi]

Ok, my intent was not to do something because it "looks good." I could honestly care less. But, I do want to spend some time exploring a possible career, and get a sense of what its like. That, and I don't think I can afford a 3 month vacation.

 

[naegleria brain]

sometimes, sweet opportunities are not advertised. talk to docs in fields you're interested in, and tell them your intentions. youre early in the game, and theyre very accomodating in general, especially MS1's.

i was in the same boat as you. i got a job writing articles for a board-review online resource for residents. i worked on it a few hours each evening. during the day, i'd shadow docs. afternoon, i might do some work with them. or i'd shadow a different field. i'd party at night.

btw, if you're into surgery, if you keep shadowing the same surgeon, he'll eventually walk you through parts of the surgery, and let you do some stuff. and by stuff, i mean more than fat retraction. not sure if it's true nation-wide, but it's been true in my experience

overall very enjoyable.